Record of a Thousand Lives

Chapter 176

Renolk took the lead and guided the party alongside the other titan scouts. He said excitedly, “I never imagined that people would come down from aboveground. I was really surprised.”

“Is it your first time meeting someone from aboveground?” Shaneth asked.

Renolk nodded and replied, “That’s right. This place was pretty deep underground in the first place, so you guys are the first ones to make contact with the Blazing Cities.”

Henrick walked carefully across the rugged rocks and asked, “But how do you know that the aboveground exists when you haven’t even gone there?”

The continent would have been turned upside down if the titans went to the surface. The scholars and historians would certainly have flocked over upon hearing the news of a new race’s appearance.

“That’s because we titans are a race born from the Dragon of Destruction and many aboveground creatures,” Ranolk explained.

The party members’ expressions stiffened.

“What do you mean by being born of the Dragon of Destruction?” Swemer asked.

“A long time ago, the Dragon of Destruction abducted thousands of creatures from aboveground, and it mated with every single one of them and produced offspring. We’re the descendants of those creatures,” Ranolk explained.

Iris seemed to be processing what Ranolk said for a moment. Her cheeks turned red with embarrassment, and she covered her face as she asked, “How can a large dragon have a child with a smaller creature? That sounds impossible.”

Henrick whistled, then said teasingly, “Hoo, looks like our young lady has learned quite a bit about how things work. You had no idea about things like this before.”

“Henrick seems to love teasing me,” Iris remarked, covering her reddened face even more.

“Dragons can shapeshift with magic. So I think the dragon shapeshifted based on the creature it mated with,” Ranolk said with a smile.

Danesh nodded and asked, “Is that also the reason why we can communicate in the same language?”

The language the titans used was similar to that of humans aboveground. There were some slight differences when it came to their accents and vocabulary, but it was not difficult for them to understand each other at all.

“We were pretty surprised too, to be honest. We never expected to be able to communicate with people from aboveground, considering we haven’t had any contact in ages,” Ranolk said.

“You guys look pretty similar to the races aboveground now that I’ve gotten a closer look,” Danesh said, rubbing his chin.

It was exactly as he said. The burly bodies of the titan scouts greatly resembled those of orcs or humans from the surface.

The men were suddenly outraged.

“That damn bastard! It put such a cruel restriction on us while it was enjoying itself in debauchery all along?!”

“A damned bastard indeed! I’ll tear all its scales off its body before I kill it!”

Ranolk asked with a grimace, “Huh? Do you plan to kill the Dragon of Destruction?”

“N-No… That’s…!” Shaneth hurriedly replied.

The Dragon of Destruction was the ancestor of all the titans. Thus, they likely held the dragon in high regard, and saying they were there to kill the Dragon of Destruction was probably a very bad idea.

“We came down here to kill the Dragon of Destruction,” Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly replied. Shaneth quietly approached him and smacked him in the shoulder, and he said, “It hurts.”

“You’re so bad…” Shaneth muttered.

“Why did you hit me?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“Just because I wanted to,” Shaneth replied.

“Thanks,” Kang Yoon-Soo said nonchalantly.

“I actually noticed this the first time we met, but your conversations are a bit strange…” Harpoon said, and the rest of the men nodded in agreement.

Henrick yawned and replied, “That makes our journey around the continent much more interesting.”

Ranolk excused himself for a moment and headed over to the rest of the titan scouts. They seemed to begin discussing something among themselves. Eventually, he came back and asked, “Kill the Dragon of Destruction, you say? Are you telling me you came with that single goal in mind?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“All of you will end up dying,” Ranolk said with a hint of viciousness in his voice.

Kalriven, the undead, and the men reached for their weapons, preparing to enter combat at any moment. They understood that the titan scout leader’s words were clearly a declaration of war against them. Likewise, the titan scouts reached for their weapons as well.

“The likes of you would be nothing but pests for the Dragon of Destruction. I’m saying this for your sake. Don’t thoughtlessly mention anything about killing the Dragon of Destruction in front of a titan,” Ranolk growled.

Kang Yoon-Soo stood in place unfazed as he replied, “We won’t die.”

“What foolish courage. Do the people from aboveground have nine lives or something?” Ranolk grumbled.

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied. He repeated, “I came to kill the Dragon of Destruction, and I have no plans to return until I achieve my goal.”

Ranolk drew a stone sword, and it began to heat up, turning bright red. The men prepared to dash forward and attack, while the undead began to let out vicious cries.

Then, Ranolk said, “I’ll attack you, but I won’t kill you. I’m doing this for your sake. I hope you’ll learn your place after this.”

Ranolk dashed nimbly forward despite his large frame. In response, the men and the undead readied themselves for combat.

At that moment…

Fwooosh!

Those present froze in place when a bright red light shone from Kang Yoon-Soo’s neck, overwhelming every creature present. He had taken out the Ignus Dragon’s Amulet from under his clothing.

Ranolk’s jaw dropped as if he had been struck with something. He stuttered in shock, “T-That amulet…! My entire body recognizes it… Don’t tell me…?”

“It belongs to the Ignus Dragon,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“The symbol of another dragon!” Ranolk exclaimed, immediately dropping to his knees. The other titan scouts could not hide their shock as well, and they quickly followed suit.

“Please forgive my insolence for treating you like an arrogant child,” Ranolk said in a calm, respectful tone. He added, “We have all been waiting for you for so long. We have been waiting for a hero to descend from above and rescue the titans!”

The men were perplexed.

Hero? What the hell was this titan talking about? The only reason they were after the Dragon of Destruction was because all they wanted to do was to sleep with as many women as they wanted once they escaped the underground.

It was at that moment that Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly said in a low, charismatic tone, “You have waited long enough, but your wait has now ended.”

Henick grimaced and grumbled, “Is he at it again…?”

“Kang Yoon-Soo is such a bad person,” Iris said.

“Shh! They might hear you!” Shaneth nervously hushed them.

***

The Blazing Cities were a mysterious place filled with buildings made entirely out of stone, each wreathed brightly in flames. Except for Shaneth, the party members were reluctant to enter.

However, Ranolk shook his head and explained, “Those are just flames our king made for aesthetic purposes. They are not hot at all.”

They carefully approached the sides of the buildings and touched them. Indeed, the brightly burning flames were merely warm to the touch.

Henrick looked around the area and asked, “So you also have a king among you?”

“It is a bit strange to call him our king, as he prefers to be called a blacksmith instead. However, we all think of him as our king,” Ranolk explained.

The underground cities of fire were as vast as the caverns they were in. Henrick could not help but say in amazement, “This is as big as the capital of the empire.”

“These are cities personally built by our king,” Ranolk proudly said.

They caught the attention of numerous titans once they entered the area. The titans, who resembled the creatures aboveground apart from their horns and skin, looked curiously at the visitors.

“Look at them; they don’t have horns!”

“That’s not all. Their skin looks very different from ours. It’s not red at all!”

“There are others that look like corpses too!”

“Are they tasty…?”

Upon hearing the last comment, Shaneth asked worriedly, “What do titans usually eat?”

“We rear fat and delicious livestock such as Lava Pigs, or forage and eat the fruits that grow underground,” Ranolk explained.

“That’s a relief…” Shaneth replied, letting out a sigh.

“Oh, but there are also titan hunters who want to hunt new creatures and taste them to see whether they are edible or not,” Ranolk added.

“…”

“Do not be so worried. The titans of the lava region might be aggressive, but they do not enjoy meaningless fights,” Ranolk explained.

“Lava region?” Shaneth asked in confusion.

Ranolk nodded and explained, “If you go north from here, you will reach the ice region. The ‘Frenzied Ones’ live over there. They are of the same bloodline as us, but the blood of the Dragon of Destruction made them go berserk.”

Shaneth’s eyes opened wide in surprise as she asked, “Ice region? There’s such a place underground?”

“That is the mystery of the underground. The climate can change dramatically here. Thankfully, the Frenzied Ones are weak against fire, so they do not attack us. Of course, we are weak against the cold, so we cannot attack them either,” Ranolk explained.

Then, he escorted the party to a white stone building that was also the largest structure in the city. Inside, there were numerous titans wearing white robes, and they were all busy writing things on stone tablets.

The titan scouts reported the completion of their mission, then explained everything there was to explain regarding the visitors from above.

***

The party members were welcomed with a great deal of noise.

A titan suddenly ran forward and grabbed Kang Yoon-Soo’s hands before introducing himself as Kaldo, the mayor of the southern city. He cried, “Oh! So you are the hero who has been prophesied since ancient times! We have waited for you to arrive and save us for so long!”

“I wish to rest,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Haha! I have prepared a feast and drinks, because I expected that you would be tired. Please! Come and relax!” Kaldo exclaimed.

The feast prepared by the titans was quite grand. The chefs in charge of it had been delighted at the sight of the men, who had eaten nothing but the equivalent of livestock feed for years, devouring the food.

Kang Yoon-Soo took a small red fruit and pushed it into the glass bottle. However, the corrupted fairy, Quishow, seemed to still be sulking as it refused to touch the fruit.

“Take it away, you evil human. Quishow is mad at you!” the corrupted fairy snapped.

“Sure,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he took the fruit out.

“Hey! Don’t take it away for real!” Quishow hurriedly exclaimed as it pushed away Kang Yoon-Soo’s finger and immediately ate the fruit.

Iris looked down at her empty plate and said with a smile, “I feel so happy.”

“I guess I won’t have to check if the food is good or not thanks to you,” Henrick said while sipping on a glass of alcohol.

Even the undead, who did not really need to eat, were seated around the table.

It was only after the feast had ended that Shaneth cautiously asked, “They’re calling you a hero and a savior… but why?”

“Ah, that is because of an ancient prophecy passed down for generations,” Kaldo said before wiping the food stains off of his mouth with a piece of leather. He continued, “We titans, as you should know by now, are the offspring of the creatures abducted by the Dragon of Destruction from aboveground. However, those who were trapped here longed to go back to where they came from, but the Dragon of Destruction did not permit them to. The dragon placed a powerful spell that prevented those underground from going aboveground, and so the only way for us to go to the surface is to kill the Dragon of Destruction and dispel it. However… That task is close to impossible.”

Kaldo thought for a moment before continuing, “However, there was a prophet among the dwarves who were held captive underground, and that dwarf left a prophecy for future generations.”

‘In the far future, a hero will descend from the surface. The hero will come bearing the symbol of another dragon, and will save us all.’

“The dwarf had a reputation for accurately predicting things, so people all came to believe the prophecy, and it eventually turned into a legend passed down generations after generations among us titans,” Kaldo said. He suddenly shouted excitedly, “However, the savior that was only believed to be a legend suddenly appeared, and he is right before my eyes! The hero that will kill the Dragon of Destruction and free us titans!”

The titans clapped and cheered in response.

However, Shaneth was still perplexed as she asked, “Isn’t the Dragon of Destruction technically your ancestor? I thought you would get angry if we said we would kill the dragon, because you’re its descendants.”

“What do you mean by that? Yes, the Dragon of Destruction is indeed our ancestor, but we do not have an ounce of love or respect for it! That is because the dragon placed a powerful spell on us titans, preventing us from going to the surface. In fact, it is more appropriate to say that we loathe it! Ah, of course, we made sure to scold any of us who were arrogant enough to try and wage war against the dragon. However, this man right here is the savior!” Kaldo exclaimed.

The mayor looked at Kang Yoon-Soo with sparkling eyes full of expectation before exclaiming, “Our savior and hero! I am certain that you, who came bearing the pendant of the Ignus Dragon, aim to kill the Dragon of Destruction. Am I correct?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied.

“Then, that is all that matters! The time has finally come!” Kaldo exclaimed. He kicked the table and got up as he shouted, “We will support you! We will become your strength and vanquish the dragon! Please, lead us to battle!”

Kang Yoon-Soo read the updated details of the legendary quest.

[Legendary Quest—Crossroads of Choice]

The titans are a race that lives deep underground. They have been oppressed by the Dragon of Destruction, as it placed a restrictive spell on them that prevented them from going up to the surface. Killing the dragon is the only way to allow the titans to reach the surface. They firmly believe that you are the savior they have waited for so long. However, the Dragon of Destruction is an unimaginably powerful creature.

You need to make a decision now.

Will you fight against the Dragon of Destruction and free the titans? Or will you give up and preserve your life as a coward?

+A war will be declared against the Dragon of Destruction across the entire underground.

+Sixty-seven thousand titans are wary of a war against the Dragon of Destruction.

+Most of the titans are skeptical about whether you have the right to be called their savior or not.

+The titan hunters will hunt you down if you fail to display leadership sufficient to wage the war.

+The titans will offer their precious treasures if you manage to convince them and prove your worth as their savior.

+Your affinity with the titan race will plummet if you refuse.

Kang Yoon-Soo stood up, and all eyes focused on him as silence filled the entire place. His low voice cut through the silence as he began speaking.

“I refuse.”

He refused the quest.

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